Money-losing MicroProse Inc., no longer able to play alone against bigger rivals in the electronic game industry, agreed to sell itself to giant toymaker Hasbro Inc. yesterday in a deal worth about $70 million.

Alameda-based MicroProse publishes critically acclaimed personal computer games like Mech Commander, Civilization and Falcon. The company reported a net loss of $7.8 million on revenues of $12.2 million yesterday for the first quarter ended June 30.

Since last year, MicroProse has made no secret of its intent to find a buyer. However, the Hasbro deal was worth far less than the $250 million merger with GT Interactive that was proposed in October, but fell apart in December.

But in a rapidly consolidating electronic game market in which players like Cendant Corp. and The Learning Company were getting bigger by picking off the competition, MicroProse CEO Steve Race said Hasbro made a fair offer that gives his company the deep pockets to expand.

"It's nice to be able to have the financial resources of a company like Hasbro," Race said.

Rhode Island-based Hasbro, the world's second biggest toymaker behind Mattel Inc., offered to pay $6 per share for MicroProse common stock. The deal includes the assumption of debt and redeemable preferred stock.

The 17-year-old MicroProse has concentrated on the PC market in the past two years, with complex, involved strategy game series like Civilization that attract hard-core gamers. That contrasts with Hasbro's electronic games, based on its Tonka and Playskool toys that cater to younger, more casual gamers.

But MicroProse's limited resources prevented the company from developing its games for other growing platforms like the Sony Playstation and the Nintendo 64. Those are markets Hasbro plans to tap with MicroProse's games, said Hasbro Senior Vice President Wayne Charness.

Analysts noted MicroProse was the latest in a buying spree for Hasbro, which is trying to beef up its electronic games business to complement a strong lineup of classic board games that includes Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit.

With MicroProse, Hasbro's electronic games revenue could reach $650 million -- or 20 percent of its sales -- next year, said John Taylor, electronic game industry analyst with Arcadia Investment Corp. of Portland, Ore.

MicroProse has 343 employees, including 135 in Alameda. Charness said the sale could bring an undetermined number of layoffs. Hasbro plans to keep open MicroProse's four game development studios in Alameda; Hunt Valley, Md.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Chipping Sodbury, England.

MicroProse Chairman Gilman Louie will remain as "chief creative officer," but Race said he's not sure if he will have a job after the takeover.